Nathaniel Chalobah says England Under-21s have dealt perfectly with their unexpected move away from St. George’s Park.
The Three Lions squad arrived at the national football centre on Sunday evening and began their preparation for Thursday’s game with Finland on the training pitch the following morning.
But just 24 hours after arriving, the squad were on the move as a precautionary matter following the discovery of a potential stomach bug at the venue.
Speaking to TheFA.com, Chalobah revealed: “We just got told last night that we had to leave St. George’s and I think the lads handled the transition quite well in moving hotels.
“It was organised perfectly for us and even though it was a late night, we’re alright today and had a lively training session.”
England v Finland
Euro U21 Championship
7.45pm Thursday 14 Nov stadiummk, MK Dons
Live on BT Sport
Tickets - 01908 622900
With Thursday’s match taking place in Milton Keynes, the group have quickly settled into their new Bedfordshire base and enjoyed training at Watford’s London Colney complex on Tuesday afternoon.
And that represents familiar territory for Chalobah, after his successful loan spell with the Hornets last season as Gareth Southgate’s squad bid to impress and win a place in the team to face Finland.
“It’s been very competitive, there are a lot of players in certain positions and people are playing for their place,” added the 20-year-old midfielder, currently on loan at Nottingham Forest from Chelsea.
“That’s always good to have in a team and it’s always good to play for your place.
“The competition in training is tough and it makes the sessions better.”
Following last month’s 5-0 win over Lithuania, which sent England to the top of their qualifying group table, Chalobah knows they now need to build on that result and performance.
“Our confidence is up, especially from the last game when our performance was great so we’re just trying to work on certain things with regards to Finland,” he said.
“There are a few things that we have to tidy up in our game and the manager and Steve [Holland] have been working on that today.”
